Easter in Review

So update time!!! You know when I say that the vision of Cinderella saying “It’s Present Time” in Shrek 3, okay random thought completed.


So this past weekend we went to visit Indiana. It was a nice trip. We were able to get there Thursday afternoon and were able to stay until Sunday. It was so nice to get to the see the family and enjoy their company. I know that the girls had a great time hanging out with the kids. Nikolai was SO CUTE when he saw his grandpa Tim. He RAN over to him and say “papal papal up” it was soooo sweet I know that it had to pulled on his heart strings b/c it was very sweet. You never know how the kids are going to react to people they haven’t seen in awhile and he was just great. As far as taking pictures this weekend... totally didn’t happen. I didn’t take not even a ONE, mainly b/c I didn’t bring my camera with me and my iphone is SOOOO slow when it takes pictures that is just plain didn’t happen. But oh well. We were able to see both sets of grandparents this weekend. Joyce was able to dye my hair, which I love! Lehna actually got in on the action of that as well and got her hair dyed... green... just a little section but it was good time.

Friday was Lehna’s birthday and she got 3 different gift cards and she was SOOO excited to open up all the gift cards. She really wanted them this year for some reason. So she enjoyed that, now we just have to schedule a time for her to use them. She got Visa card so she can go wherever she wants to use them. She wants to go to Old Navy and Justus. I don’t think I have ever been in Justus but for some reason she wants to go in there and spend her money... girls. We also had an ice-cream cake for her birthday and it was a nice little gathering.

On Sunday, Maya’s birthday, the first thing out of Maya’s mouth was “can I open my gifts?” She had seen them since Thursday when we got there, so she had been itching to open them all weekend so she was able to open them. She got a lot of cute little things a doll house and a skip it. I’m hoping that eventually it will get warm enough to go outside and Maya will be able to play with her skip it! Maya didn’t have a birthday cake. We were planning on getting one when we got back to Kenosha but when Tait went out to buy one all of the stores were closed. So she didn’t get a birthday cake until Monday. She was a little disappointed but you know she got over it super quick and was excited to blow out the candles on Monday.

The Easter Bunny did come to Indiana to deliver a message to the kids that their Easter baskets were in Wisconsin and it went over well. They were excited about the “surprise” waiting for them, but I had to remind them about it once, b/c they kind of forgot about it. When they got home they searched for their baskets. Lehna worked on finding her basket but she would give up “really quickly” in my opinion about where her next clue was. And Maya once she got an idea of where the next clue was hiding she would TAKE OFF, to get the next clue. Then the great reveal Maya was OVER the moon about her basket. Nikolai was SUPER excited about his cars in his basket... Lehna... not so much she cried. She felt that Maya had more in her basket and she felt shorted. She told us that she wished she was 6 so she could have gotten fairy things. I tell you she is in the really in-between age of not little girl and not big girl. It is a tough age. She is just so sensitive right now about that kind of thing. I am hoping we can just keep up with the gift card thing. Hopefully she’ll continue to be excited about getting those b/c seriously I am running out of ideas of things to get her. I tried going with artsy things for Christmas like tie dye kits and jewelry making and etc. Yeah they didn’t go over nearly as well as I felt that they should.

I’m telling you it’s difficult this parenthood thing. It’s tough. I wish I had the answers but I just don’t. I am really struggling with Maya right now. I am having a hard time just having her not say such horrible things to me and hitting me. Maya is so unique. She has her own ideas of what she enjoys and etc. She is such a free spirit and is just a cutie pie. So the issues that I’m having with her are behavior related. I have figured out that she does the best without strict structure. She really gets tired of having to follow directions for 12 hours a day from school and then continuing it on with daycare. She is VERY opinionated and will tell you how she feels about something if she doesn’t like it. The other day she was upset over the fact that she has to go to the Boys and Girls Club this week for Spring Break. So she has been crying every night about having to go the following day. So last night she was upset and we talked a little bit about it and she just kept escalating and just wasn’t calming down. She was sent to bed b/c of her behavior and she cried and cried. I thought she just was tired. So after a little bit after she quieted down I went into her room to talk to her about it. And she said awful things to me like I’m her worst parent and that she hates me, etc. I used to be able to change the topic and talk about when she was a baby about the stories and she really enjoyed those stories. NOT THIS TIME. Yikes this only made the situation worse. I know that part of this behavior is all attention seeking. She is stuck in the middle and does want one on one attention. Every night when we watch TV she usually curls up on my lap and watches TV with me or whatever we are doing. Last night when we were talking it just was her and me and I just was holding her as she cried and tried to get her to talk to me but she just kept saying “get away”. So finally I left the room and I just couldn’t take any more because she was not being very nice. So I left the room and about 15 minutes later Tait went in to talk to her and he was MUCH more successful. He was able to calm her down, he was able to talk to her about returning to the Boys and Girls Club and he was very successful about it. I kept asking him what in the world did he do to make her relax and talk to her. And he simply goes “nothing I just talked to her” It was like a miracle but this isn’t eh first time. I usually do battle with her in the morning. Getting her to put on her shoes is a chore because she forces her feet in the wrong shoes and then gets upset b/c they don’t fit and she can’t tie them and etc. So Monday she kept going on and on and finally I told Tait that I couldn’t fight her anymore and that he needed to take over so I was able to get the other two ready and in the van. She came out the door happy, no longer crying, and was ready to start the day. I asked him again “what did you do to make her do it.” He said “nothing, I just told her to get her shoes on and let’s go” Really? Why am I struggling with her so much and he’s having such an easy time? I don’t know if it’s something I’m doing to create the environment or if it’s something he’s doing but it’s annoying to say the least. I guess I’m parenting all three kids the same... but for some reason the 2nd one needs something else, but not sure what exactly. Tait said maybe its b/c we are both the middle children. But it’s not like he’s saying to her “I know what I feels like” He’s literally doing the same thing I’m doing but she’s responding to his directives. It’s FRUSTRATING to say the least.

So Tait and I have been trying to find another resource for the summer b/c with the girls being out of school and the Boys and Girls Club not being as successful as I’d hoped we have put out some feelers. One of the MAJOR issues is cost! This town is so expensive as far as everything... groceries, housing, daycare, you name it it’s expensive. So we have been trying to figure out what to do when it comes to summer time and having them in a facility full time. I mean for us to pay full time daycare for three kids were we will not beagle to afford rent or bills or anything. So one of our coworkers was asking about daycare costs and how much we are spending and etc. So she said “well my sister does daycare and I would like to talk to her for you, if that’s okay?” So we said that was fine and she came back and her sister said she was upset over the amount of what we are paying for daycare on a daily basis. She said she would charge ½ the price we are paying for all three kids. And this isn’t a crappy place either. She has a home in a very nice neighborhood, she has a swimming pool. She has the parents get great America season passes and she will take them all summer long there for a couple hours there. She plays games with them, takes them to the park. She’s VERY involved in taking care of the kids. WE have talked to a couple other coworkers that have used her in the past but their kids are old enough not to need daycare anymore. So Tait and I are going to meet with her next Monday. So we’ll see. I am hoping that it works out.

So on the job front. Well things are more complicated then I would want them. So basically last week one of the jobs that I had applied to came through. Well the problem is that since the position that I want at DCFS isn’t going to interview I had a big decision to make. I had to decide to take the sheriff position or if I should wait for the DCFS position. Well after long debate a thinking I have decided that I am not going to take the sheriff position job. I am hoping that it is going to be the right decision but part of me didn’t know what to do and I had to decide on what I was going to do. So I guess time will tell. The best part about all of this is my supervisor comes back next week so the person doing the interviews will be someone that knows me and knows what I’m capable of so that’s a GREAT thing. It’s been tough for me but I feel that this is going to be the best decision. The worse case scenario is I end up not getting this job and then I end up landing another temporary job. So that’s kind of my plan for now. I’m hoping that this is the right thing. Time will tell I guess.

So that’s life on the in our home right now... decisions decisions... what challenges do we all face.